Month: January 2024

[ad_1] In recent years, the Akutagawa Prize has diversified its recipient pool: In 2022, the shortlist was all female writers, last year Saou Ichikawa was the first author with a severe physical disability to win and this week marked the first time artificial intelligence walked away with a piece of the prestigious literary award.On Wednesday evening, Rie Qudan won the country’s most important prize for early career writers for “Tokyo-to […]

[ad_1] Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) announced another delay to its $40 billion site in Arizona, dealing a further blow to the plan of President Joe Biden's administration to boost manufacturing of critical components on U.S. soil.Executives said their second plant in Arizona, whose shell is now being built, will start operations in 2027 or 2028, later than TSMC’s prior guidance of 2026. That’s after the company in July announced […]

[ad_1] SEOUL – North Korea said Friday that it had tested an "underwater nuclear weapon system" in response to joint naval exercises by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo that involved a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.The drills were "seriously threatening the security" of the North, so in response, Pyongyang "conducted an important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system 'Haeil-5-23' under development in the East Sea of Korea," according to a statement […]

[ad_1] Kashihara, Nara Pref. – Almost four decades ago, a phantom creature of ancient Japanese folklore captured the public imagination in a craze that would rival sightings of Scotland's Loch Ness Monster.It began with a remote western village appealing to the rest of the country for volunteers to join a hunt for a snake-like being called the "tsuchinoko." A feverish but short-lived boom followed with offers of cash prizes that […]

[ad_1] Singapore’s Transport Minister Subramaniam Iswaran has resigned after being charged with corruption in the biggest political scandal in almost four decades, which has cast a pall on the city-state known for clean governance.Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong accepted Iswaran’s resignation as a cabinet minister and lawmaker, according to a statement from Lee’s office. Iswaran, who’s out on bail, rejected the 27 charges against him, including allegedly obtaining tickets to […]

[ad_1] TEL AVIV – Life in Tel Aviv appears normal for Rhona Ukrainsky three months after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, but the pain and fear are just under the surface, causing her to cry when the subject is mentioned and flinch when she hears a loud noise.The trauma inflicted by the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust has not faded. She feels distraught over the hatred […]